No Amnesty for the Disingenuous - (shocking atrocities by real violators that AI did NOT report!)

There is no doubt that the Internet has opened up a whole new way of communication for everyone who can access it. Email, websites, digital downloads; what used to take days if not weeks to communicate through letters and photographs can now be done in less that thirty seconds. So, it is curious how anyone can still be “played” by the disingenuous when it comes to ideological propaganda.

Last week, Amnesty International went to great pains to orchestrate a few well-attended press conferences. At each of these media events they repeated the same baseless allegation: The United States of America was running an “archipelago of gulags” around the world. They insisted that prisoners of war were “disappearing into” these “gulags.”

This week, Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director William Schulz pretty much debunked his organization’s “gulag” allegations. Schulz told Chris Wallace, the host of FOX News Sunday, "We don't know for sure what all is happening at Guantanamo and our whole point is that the United States ought to allow independent human rights organizations to investigate." He also said he had "absolutely no idea" whether the International Red Cross had been given access to all prisoners and said he feared others were being held at secret facilities or locations.

So, let’s look at the facts of the matter without Amnesty International’s contrived spin.

Amnesty International hasn’t any proof whatsoever that any mistreatment of prisoners is taking place at Guantanamo Bay. In fact, they wouldn’t know if the camp was being run by America’s version of Colonel Klink and being guarded by a like version of Sergeant Schultz. For all they know Guantanamo Bay is the new Area 51 complete with both living and dead extra-terrestrials. (Let’s see how long it takes for that to make the rounds)

The inclination not to believe the allegations made by Amnesty International is further bolstered by the fact that Mr. Schultz admitted they had no information on whether or not the International Red Cross had seen all the prisoners at Gitmo. Seeing as the IRC, is about as clandestine as Richard Simmons this notion is very hard to entertain. The fact that the two organizations routinely find themselves on the top ten lists of organizations that spew condemnation of America would lead one to believe that their respective chairmen have “red phones” to each other’s offices on their desks.

So, Amnesty International has no proof of any prisoner mistreatment and they haven’t a clue as to the conditions inside Guantanamo Bay. Based upon their own admission they have no business making allegations. It doesn’t take a leftist ideologue to deduce that their accusations are a manifestation of their anti-war in Iraq, anti-War on Terror, anti-America and anti-George W. Bush doctrine.

Amnesty International held sensationalized press conference “fiction fests” to get its name back in the news. As a wise man once said, ‘any press is good press.’ I can’t remember who said it so I will just attribute it to Al Gore. He invented everything, so I am told.

When it all comes down to it, Amnesty International really has nothing to crow about. Looking at all of the true atrocities taking place throughout the world it is fair to say that they have failed miserably in their mission statement while targeting the one government who has done the most to further the ideal of human rights.

Last week, the United States released a list of 14 countries that have failed to do enough to stop the modern-day practice of slave-trading. That slavery is still an issue in the 21st Century is absolutely appalling. What is even more appalling is that while the US list includes some close allies in the War on Terror and threatens them with economic sanctions if they continue to be delinquent in taking measures to halt this very real atrocity, Amnesty International railed against the United States calling our government officials human rights violators.

In Amman, Jordan last week the second “honor killing” of the week took place. A young Muslim man tied the hands of his sister, gagged her and took her to a deserted area west of that town where he stabbed her to death. The divorced 25-year old woman was slaughtered because her brother said she was “involved in immoral relationships.”Nineteen female citizens of that country died at the hand of that immoral ideology last year. Their murderers either went unpunished or received reduced sentences, often without jail time. Meanwhile, Amnesty International railed against the United States branding our government officials human rights violators.

In Sudan hundreds of thousands are being starved to death and murdered at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. Children are being raped at the hands of UN Peacekeepers in Darfur. Yet indignantly, Amnesty International fabricates human rights violations against the United States government.

Is Amnesty International being disingenuous? Only in the extreme sense of the word.

The word atrocity is so over-used by blowhards like Williams Schulz that its meaning is being obfuscated. This is very dangerous. We should never allow the meaning of so chilling a word to be revised and the events it rightfully describes rendered inconsequential.

I urge Mr. Schulz and the rest of the “silver-spoon crowd” who like to throw around the word atrocity to watch a video clip titled, Eleven Deaths Before Your Eyes, hosted by Don’tStare.net [http://dontstare.net/11dead.wmv]. I will warn you up front, this is probably going to be the most disturbingly graphic thing you will ever witness if you haven’t been to war. It is not for the faint of heart but it is a reality in the world of Islamic fundamentalism and it is the very definition of atrocity.

After bearing witness to a true and real atrocity, courtesy of the Internet, perhaps the privileged, insulated elite who feel compelled to hold press conferences to accuse the greatest provider of humanitarian aid and freedom the world has ever known of human rights violations will think twice. Then again, even the technological marvel that is the Internet would have a problem getting through heads that thick.

Frank Salvato is Managing Editor of the conservative web magazine, The Rant.Us, and is regularly featured in The Washington Times, CNS News, GOPUSA and about 50 other publications

Did I hear someone say Amnesty International? Who and what is the Secretary General, Irene Khan? Would it surprise anyone to hear she's a muslim?

May 26, 2004 Torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere

In its annual report, titled “Why human rights matter,” Amnesty International says that America's war on terrorism has “made the world a more dangerous place.” This is the consequence of “the US seeking to put itself outside the ambit of judicial scrutiny,” the organization says. Furthermore, “[s]acrificing human rights in the name of security at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad, and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses, have neither increased security nor ensured liberty,” the report adds. Practicing and apparently condoning torture, according to Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan, has resulted in the US having “lost its high moral ground and its ability to lead on peace and elsewhere.” The practice of violating human rights and the war in Iraq is believed to have a broader influence than on the immediate victims. “The war in Iraq,” the report says, “has diverted global attention from other human rights abuses around the world.” [BBC, 5/26/2004 Sources: ACLU et al. v. Department of Defense et al., 7/6/2004]
People and organizations involved: Amnesty International, Irene Khan

Irene Khan - Biography

Irene Zubaida Khan joined Amnesty International as the organization’s seventh Secretary General in August 2001.

Taking the helm in Amnesty International as the first woman, the first Asian and the first Muslim to guide the world’s largest human rights organization, Irene brought a new perspective to the organization. As an individual, she brought experience and enthusiasm for putting people at the heart of policy.

Irene took up the leadership of Amnesty International in its 40th anniversary year as the organization began a process of change and renewal to address the complex nature of contemporary human rights violations, and confronted the challenging developments in the wake of the attacks of 11 September.

In her first year in office, Irene reformed AI’s response to crisis situations, personally leading high level missions to Pakistan during the bombing of Afghanistan, to Israel/Occupied Territories just after the Israeli occupation of Jenin, and to Colombia before the Presidential elections in May 2003. Deeply concerned about violence against women, she called for better protection of women’s human rights in meetings with President Musharraf of Pakistan, President Lahoud of Lebanon and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh. She has initiated a process of consultations with women activists to design a global campaign by Amnesty International against violence on women.

Irene has been keen to draw attention to hidden human rights violations. In Australia, she drew attention to the plight of asylum seekers in detention. In Burundi, she met with victims of massacres and urged President Buyoya and other parties to the conflict to end the cycle of human rights abuse. In Bulgaria, she led a campaign to end discrimination of those suffering from mental disabilities.

Interested in working directly with people to change their lives, Irene helped to found the development organization, Concern Universal, in 1977, and began her work as a human rights activist with the International Commission of Jurists in 1979.

Irene joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1980, and worked in a variety of positions at Headquarters and in field operations to promote the international protection of refugees. From 1991-95 she was Senior Executive Officer to Mrs. Sadako Ogata, then UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She was appointed as the UNHCR Chief of Mission in India in 1995, the youngest UNHCR country representative at that time, and in 1998 headed the UNHCR Centre for Research and Documentation. She led the UNHCR team in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis in 1999, and was appointed Deputy Director of International Protection later that year.

Irene studied law at the University of Manchester and Harvard Law School, specialising in public international law and human rights. She is the recipient of several academic awards, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and the Pilkington "Woman of the Year" Award 2002.

Public Document

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

Irene Khan Irene Khan took up the leadership of Amnesty International in its 40th anniversary year as the organisation began a process of change and renewal to address the complex nature of contemporary human rights violations, and confronted the challenging developments in the wake of the attacks of 11 September. Prior to joining Amnesty International, Irene worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 21 years, serving in many different parts of the world, including as Deputy Director in the Department of International Protection, Chief of Mission in India, Senior Legal Advisor for Asia and Senior Executive Officer to the High Commissioner. In 1977, she co-founded Concern Universal, a UK-based development NGO. In 2002 Irene was awarded the Pilkington "Women of the Year" award. Irene, a Bangladesh national, is a graduate of Harvard Law School, USA and the University of Manchester, UK. Author's website: Amnesty International

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